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Thinking of Starting my Own Adult Ezine?

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this and I hope it isn't seen as self promotion but I'm seeking guidance with an idea I'm having internal inertia with.

I've been playing around with the idea of starting my own adult Ezine based on a membership for about a year now but have never taken action on it because I'm not sure if there's really a big market out there for it as much as say porn sites... truthfully I've considered dabbling in the adult industry ever since moving to NYC two years ago (I know; to some people that sounds insane- especially for a college grad) and I have a bunch of stories that I've written, mostly for myself and to jot ideas down....

An Ezine or something I create would allow me to maintain control over the situation (instead of putting it in the hands of a studio) and see what it's like on the fringes to see if it's something I'd like to develop further. I've had success with a bit of freelancing and entrepreneurial pursuits (sometimes it was fueled by the need to make the other half of the rent before it was due) and even though I don't think it would completely supplement the pay I get, it would be nice to make half of it on a monthly basis. Though, it would be nice if it did surpass what I make.... has anyone embarked on creating something like this before? Did you have at least some sort of success with it?

I think the main thing holding me back is wondering if people will actually pay something for when they can just find stories for free with a simple Google search; although they aren't my unique stories.... I'm sure Joe Phillips and writers and artists thought the same thing when they started.

Re: Thinking of Starting my Own Adult Ezine?

I doubt a lot of people would pay. Most would download it the illegal way.

You'll probably be more successful by doing it like Google, plastering it with ads from sponsors and give it away for free, although the quality would go down the drain if there are more ads than articles. Only go the subscription way if you don't mind low sales or have a very good lawyer.

Re: Thinking of Starting my Own Adult Ezine?

Suggestions, edits, grammatical corrections? Slightly worried since it's on Blogger (which is owned now by Google) that it might be discovered by a future employer or display in my Google account... might move it later to Wordpress

Re: Thinking of Starting my Own Adult Ezine?

I think any creative project your passionate about is a good one. I say go for it. Here are a couple of tips I've picked up at various courses that may help you. Biggest tip, remember writing is a business and as a sole proprietor you're in charge of all of it; Sales, Markeing, PR, Product development etc.

1. URL - buy your own. Wordpress & BlogSpot are too hard to remember. Set your site up professionally from the beginning. I've seen a marked increase in visitors at my blog since I bought it a proper URL and it only cost about $8 or something.
2. Social Media isn't just for lunch - make sure you set your site up on Twitter. Or yourself. Either way, start connecting to people who are already doing what you do or who you think will be interested in your site. Porn Stars, Porn Studios, Followers of Porn Stars. You'd be surprised how open and friendly most people are. I've connected with quite a few producers/actors/writers/directors of independent queer films in the past few months, all of them are absolutely lovely. Hopefully when I'm ready to get my script out there I'll be able to find out who they recommend I send it to. If not, I've made some really talented and friendly internet buddies.
3. Content - Can you manage to produce enough content to keep an ezine going for a monthly subscription rate? If people are paying money monthly to read your site, they're going to want more than 1 or 2 stories. Put a call out for short stories, tell the writers no fee but byline.

Re: Thinking of Starting my Own Adult Ezine?

Originally Posted by ravenstar

I think any creative project your passionate about is a good one. I say go for it. Here are a couple of tips I've picked up at various courses that may help you. Biggest tip, remember writing is a business and as a sole proprietor you're in charge of all of it; Sales, Markeing, PR, Product development etc.

1. URL - buy your own. Wordpress & BlogSpot are too hard to remember. Set your site up professionally from the beginning. I've seen a marked increase in visitors at my blog since I bought it a proper URL and it only cost about $8 or something.
2. Social Media isn't just for lunch - make sure you set your site up on Twitter. Or yourself. Either way, start connecting to people who are already doing what you do or who you think will be interested in your site. Porn Stars, Porn Studios, Followers of Porn Stars. You'd be surprised how open and friendly most people are. I've connected with quite a few producers/actors/writers/directors of independent queer films in the past few months, all of them are absolutely lovely. Hopefully when I'm ready to get my script out there I'll be able to find out who they recommend I send it to. If not, I've made some really talented and friendly internet buddies.
3. Content - Can you manage to produce enough content to keep an ezine going for a monthly subscription rate? If people are paying money monthly to read your site, they're going to want more than 1 or 2 stories. Put a call out for short stories, tell the writers no fee but byline.

I look forward to seeing how this progresses. Best of luck to you.

Yes to all of this! Great advice for everyone no matter what they're writing. I'm a little skiddish of promoting adult content on social media for some reason. Slightly worried my current or future employer might run across it somehow...

Re: Thinking of Starting my Own Adult Ezine?

Sounds like a good idea. If the content is good, people will def pay for it. I recalled some gay porn blogs such as night charm requires membership to certain areas and even some adult artists have memberships for their site.